If there is a moral to be derived from the November, 2011, elections it is that people distrust extremes.
Our political parties, more and more, have catered to extremes. One in particular.
Romney has been running a presidential campaign for months, seeking to appeal to voters broader than the extremist voting blocks that make up the GOP. The others, except for Huntsman, kept their eyes on the extreme blocks and hoped to get to nomination, without thinking beyond that.
This week, Romney made a statement that the sexual harassment charges levied against Cain were serious if true. Romney knows he must patch the wounds in his party and reach out to average Americans rather than than Cain's hardcore backers. He has to write those Cain supporters off, if necessary.
If there is a new leavening of the GOP, will Huntsman's numbers rise? Would Huntsman be a possible running mate for Romney? Don't hold your breath on that.
Showing posts with label GOP. Show all posts
Showing posts with label GOP. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Monday, November 7, 2011
Cain III, The End
No. 4 is coming out, today, at a press conference.
For the good of the party, Cain needs to bow out now.
Why for the party? Because it puts the other candidates like Romney and Perry in a vise: If they attack Cain, they alienate Cain supporters, and there are supporters out there who still think all this is a "high tech lynching"; if Romney and Perry say nothing, they alienate half the country.
Look for Cain's withdrawal sometime today. Unless he wants to take everybody down with him.
Note: I considered Cain a good candidate months ago, a personification of the business friendly side of the GOP. [Hmmm. Is there another side? Actually I considered Cain and Huntsman to be bookends among the candidates. Huntsman has faded from barely there to still barely there.] Cain has a sueful message for Americans, that you can succeed by hard work, that you get nowhere blaming and making excuses. He has never been a viable presidential candidate.
For the good of the party, Cain needs to bow out now.
Why for the party? Because it puts the other candidates like Romney and Perry in a vise: If they attack Cain, they alienate Cain supporters, and there are supporters out there who still think all this is a "high tech lynching"; if Romney and Perry say nothing, they alienate half the country.
Look for Cain's withdrawal sometime today. Unless he wants to take everybody down with him.
Note: I considered Cain a good candidate months ago, a personification of the business friendly side of the GOP. [Hmmm. Is there another side? Actually I considered Cain and Huntsman to be bookends among the candidates. Huntsman has faded from barely there to still barely there.] Cain has a sueful message for Americans, that you can succeed by hard work, that you get nowhere blaming and making excuses. He has never been a viable presidential candidate.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Cult
On the GOP, check this out: http://www.truth-out.org/goodbye-all-reflections-gop-operative-who-left-cult/1314907779 By a former Republican who had enough. He is incisive too in his dissection of the Democrats.
Despite what I post here and elsewhere, I don't really think that merely being a Republican qualifies one for a padded cell. There are thoughtful Republicans out there with a useful perspective that could help the country. But increasingly the GOP is dominated by a Far Right lunatic fringe that does behave like a cult.
In fact, their beliefs form a politico-religious complex, and are constantly reinforced by a radio-TV-print- propaganda barrage like that of Herr Goebbels in the 1930s.
To hear some preachers spin it, Jesus was the prophet of free-market capitalism and of low taxes and no restrictions on big business and the rich.
Sunday, trying to get the news programs on TV, I passed a channel where a preacher was preaching -- conservative politics and economics. So much for the Sermon on the Mount. So much for feeding the hungry and clothing the naked. So much for the parable of the rich man and the eye of the needle. The Republican-Religious Fundamentalist complex are forging a new religion, suited to their joint purposes.
If I were the parent of a young Republican today, I'd seriously think about arranging a kidnapping and deprogramming exactly as though he or she had gotten involved with the moonies or scientology or a radical sect of Islam.
I think there is a coming civil war in this country over core values that will make the 1861-65 Civil War look like boys throwing rocks at each other. The conservatives are already armed to the teeth. It is incumbent on those opposing the conservative Religio-Republican agenda to prepare as well.
Despite what I post here and elsewhere, I don't really think that merely being a Republican qualifies one for a padded cell. There are thoughtful Republicans out there with a useful perspective that could help the country. But increasingly the GOP is dominated by a Far Right lunatic fringe that does behave like a cult.
In fact, their beliefs form a politico-religious complex, and are constantly reinforced by a radio-TV-print- propaganda barrage like that of Herr Goebbels in the 1930s.
To hear some preachers spin it, Jesus was the prophet of free-market capitalism and of low taxes and no restrictions on big business and the rich.
Sunday, trying to get the news programs on TV, I passed a channel where a preacher was preaching -- conservative politics and economics. So much for the Sermon on the Mount. So much for feeding the hungry and clothing the naked. So much for the parable of the rich man and the eye of the needle. The Republican-Religious Fundamentalist complex are forging a new religion, suited to their joint purposes.
If I were the parent of a young Republican today, I'd seriously think about arranging a kidnapping and deprogramming exactly as though he or she had gotten involved with the moonies or scientology or a radical sect of Islam.
I think there is a coming civil war in this country over core values that will make the 1861-65 Civil War look like boys throwing rocks at each other. The conservatives are already armed to the teeth. It is incumbent on those opposing the conservative Religio-Republican agenda to prepare as well.
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